The Sixty-One-Point Relaxation Exercise is one of the most profound methods of rejuvenation. t is actually much more than a relaxation exercise. It is considered an advanced practice because it means that the student by this time has already learned how to breathe diaphragmatically and has learned how to practice some form of systematic relaxation. An experienced practitioner of systematic relaxation has learned how to lie down and relax the body without falling asleep. Similarly, most advanced practices require you to have the ability to stay awake when doing something more subtle, more inward.

The posture for sixty-one-points is called the corpse pose, or shivasana, in which you lie down on your back with your palms toward the sky and your feet as wide as your shoulders. Put a little pillow under your head, which will prevent pressure in your oesophagus. You have a constant air bubble in your stomach, and when you are practicing deep relaxation, the sphincter that closes the junction between the oesophagus and the stomach relaxes. If it relaxes, the air bubble in the stomach could come up and put subtle pressure in your oesophagus. To keep the oesophagus closed, you must raise the head up about an inch or two. Thus, the purpose of the pillow is not for the comfort of your head but rather to raise the head. In the beginning of learning this exercise, this is not a big deal, but later on, as you experience deeper and deeper states of relaxation, you should practice sixty-one-points with a pillow

Also, this is a pranayama exercise, working with the prana, the subtle energy of the body. When lying in the corpse pose, you should have a light blanket covering you, so that other air currents do not affect the current of the mind as it travels through the body. Once again, in the beginning, it is a minor point. When you are learning this exercise, the most important thing is to practice the sixty-one-points. But eventually, as you deepen your relaxation, you should follow all of these recommendations.

Thirdly, protect yourself from noises. Make sure the telephones are off, and do not answer the doorbell. If your spouse is practicing with you, and you have small children, I recommend that one of you keep an eye on the kids while the other one does sixty-one-points and then switch.

Once you have acquired the experience of relaxation, then sixty-one-points really helps deepen that experience. You will be using your mental awareness to travel through sixty-one different points throughout the body. At each point, you will bring your mental awareness there. To make sure both the right (creativity and colors) and left (analytical and numbers) hemispheres of the brain are involved at each point; visualize a blue dot and also the number of that dot. The blue color represents a deep form of relaxation. Of all the colors in the mind, visualizing blue is the most relaxing.

As you travel through your body, you may hit a marma point that is rajasic (energetic). When your mental awareness encounters this, you may have one of several events happen. The most common is the body flinches. Sometimes, when you reach that point, all of the sudden you get a vivid memory, thought, or emotion.

There also may be points that are tamasic points of dullness. Usually in the beginning, all of us encounter a few of those. When we hit a tamasic point with our mental awareness, commonly one of two things happens. One, you might become disoriented and fall asleep. Two, you might experience dullness. You will forget what you are doing, where you are, and what is going on. If you fall asleep during the practice, you are done for that day. Don’t try to pick up where you left off. Don’t be disappointed when these things happen. Falling asleep is cleansing.

The Sixty-One-Point Relaxation Exercise

Use the chart to learn the location of each point before beginning this exercise. Link to image Lie down in the corpse pose as described above and begin your relaxation exercise. Gently bring your awareness to each point and visualize the number at each location along with a blue dot the size of a marble. Travel slowly to each point as you follow them in numerical order.

1- Point between the eyebrows2- Hollow of the throat3- Right shoulder joint4- Right elbow joint5- The bend of the right wrist6- Tip of the right thumb7- Tip of the right index finger8- Tip of the right middle finger9- Tip of the right fourth finger (ring finger)10- Tip of the right small finger11- The bend of the right wrist joint12- Right elbow joint13- Right shoulder joint14- Hollow of the throat15- Left shoulder joint16- Left elbow joint17- The bend of the left wrist joint18- Tip of the left thumb19- Tip of the left index finger20- Tip of the left middle finger21- Tip of the left fourth finger (ring finger)22- Tip of the left small finger23- The bend of the left wrist joint24- Left elbow joint25- Left shoulder joint26- Hollow of the throat27- Heart centre28- Right nipple29- Heart centre30- Left nipple31- Heart centre32- Solar plexus (just below thebottom of the breast bone)33- Navel centre (two inches belowthe physical navel)34- Right hip joint35- Right knee joint36- Right ankle joint37- Tip of the right big toe38- Tip of the right second toe39- Tip of the right third toe40- Tip of the right fourth toe41- Tip of the right small toe42- Right ankle joint43- Right knee joint44- Right hip joint45- Navel centre (two inches belowthe physical navel)46- Left hip joint47- Left knee joint48- Left ankle joint49- Tip of the left big toe50- Tip of the left second toe 51- Tip of the left third toe52- Tip of the left fourth toe53- Tip of the left small toe54- Left ankle joint55- Left knee joint56- Left hip joint57- Navel center (two inches below the physical navel)58- Solar plexus59- Heart center60- Hollow of the throat61- Center between the eyebrows